An Unlikely Friendship
by Shade Penn
Summary: Brad/Jenny friendship. When Brad tries to find out about Lee more to make his act convincing, he tries getting the information out of a last resort. He just never expected what came after.


**A/N: This takes place during the later of season two.**

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><p>Combing his hair back, Brad winked at his reflection in his locker's mirror. Lee had to be pretty heartbroken about her old boyfriend to resist him, but he knew that her attempts to drive him away were just her trying to keep from getting hurt. He'd seen it a million times in movies, but eventually the nice guy won out, and he was that guy.<p>

Still though, even a nice guy had to know about the girl he was crushing on, and he was so not going to stalk her to know more. He wanted to be the hero, not a villain. Which meant he had only one option; her friends. Cam and Holger were out because they didn't like him, and there was no way he was going to ask Tina with Chaz hovering around her (clingy much?) and Biffy was the enemy.

That left Jenny, the outcast freak who picked her nose.

Grimacing, Brad knew he had to suck up his disgust and actually _talk_ to her, however infected by her un-coolness afterwards. He was sure he was going to need a shower. _'I think I saw her at the library, yeah, I should try there first.'_ He thought, closing his locker as he made his way down the hall.

When he made it to the library, he flinched as he bumped into Jenny, resisting all temptation to get away from her. "Hey," he winked at her, "it's you."

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "I was gonna say the same thing." She said derisively. "Shouldn't you be off getting rejected by Lee?"

Brad waved the insult away. "She's just playing hard to get, she'll come around." He said and ran a hand over his hair. "Although, it _would_ help if I had some insight as to how to make that happen."

Jenny's eyes narrowed further. "Do you seriously think I'd tell you anything? Go bug someone else."

Brad grimaced again. "I _can't_," he admitted, his voice lowering, "she doesn't have any other friends."

Jenny laughed incredulously. "Did you actually make a count? Man, I thought Brandy had it bad."

Brad flushed as he was compared to the Glamazon. "I'm nothing like Brandy. So, will you help me or not? I promise to make it worth it."

Jenny raised a brow, but rolled her eyes. "Fine, you're gonna need all the help you can get, and not even then would it get you anywhere."

Ignoring the insult once more, Brad smirked. "The Brad does not know the meaning of the word 'quit'."

"Obviously."

Brad flushed once more.

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><p>Jenny strummed her fingers against the table, not believing that she'd actually bought into Brad's little scheme for Lee. If he hadn't realized by now that there wasn't anything happening, he was as blind to it as people thinking he was being clingy. <em>'He makes saran wrap look like a joke, and they're not even together!'<em>

Jenny furrowed her brow when someone in a hat and sunglasses sat in front of her in the café Brad wanted to meet her at, and she glared at the guy once she realized who it was. "Really? Am I really _that_ uncool?"

"It's for my next movie, where I go undercover as this loser." Brad said. "Pretty convincing, huh?"

Jenny crossed her arms. "When did they become _your_ movies? You're nothing but his sidekick in all his films."

Brad tensed up, his lips pulling into a tight line. "That's not true."

"Then why does he always get first billing, why does he always-"

"Bad example." Brad cut her off. "Can we just talk about what I came here for?"

Jenny snorted. "Still say this is bogus. You could know everything and she'd never like you." She huffed. "What's the deal with you anyway? Don't you get it?"

"She's just-"

"-playing hard to get." Jenny said rolling her eyes. "Newsflash, she's not; she really doesn't like you. Do you even like her?" she questioned, pausing when Brad remained silent. "Well, do you?"

"I…I like what she could give me." Brad said, sounding a bit flustered.

Jenny's nose scrunched up. "This was a stupid idea; you don't even know what you want."

"Yes I do!" Brad snapped childishly. "I'm going to be a big name actor just like my dad."

"And if that fails?"

Brad faltered. "What?"

"If it fails, then what?" Jenny persisted.

"If?" Brad said stiltedly, as if the context it was said with was foreign to him. "What do you mean 'if'? Of course I won't."

"You're dad's the star," Jenny pointed out, "and there's no guarantee that you'll be as good as him." she said, making note of how Brad flinched at the comparison. "Is that why you're so desperate to be a star? You _don't_ think you're good enough?"

"Of course I am." Brad said. "You're reading too much into this, and that's not what you're here to talk with me about."

"Besides Lee though," Jenny said tilting her head, "what else interests you? There has to be something other than acting. I'm actually starting to take boxing lessons; it'll help with my anger issues."

"I'm not _your_ therapist either." Brad retorted as he crossed his arms.

Regardless, Jenny continued on. "I like all kinds of music, though I'm beginning to hate techno." She thought of how she'd been brainwashed and scowled. "And mock me all you want, but at least I'm _proving_ I have a life outside of being Lee's friend."

Brad remained silent for a moment. "I'm a vegetarian," he admitted, "I'm into saving all the uncute animals that no one cares about, and I like gardening."

Jenny smirked. "Was that so hard?"

Brad sunk into his seat. "Don't get used to it."

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><p>Brad didn't know what happened; it was like a dam had been opened after Jenny began listing off her likes and dislikes. How had his plan go so wrong? Yet, in some way, this didn't bother him as much as he thought it did. "For a nose-picker, you're almost…alright."<p>

Jenny let out a short laugh. "For a delusional guy with an imaginary girlfriend, so are you."

"Lee's not imaginary."

"Your relationship is though."

_'I walked right into that one.'_ Brad thought. He glanced down at his phone. "I gotta get home."

"Me too." Jenny said nonchalantly.

Pausing, Brad grimaced. "Think we can hang out again?"

Jenny raised a brow. "With a nose-picker?"

"Like I said, you're…alright."

Jenny snorted. "Gee, thanks." She said, though paused as well. "Maybe; you got a lot of issues and I want another sundae."

Brad surprised himself when he laughed. "Look who's talking."

Jenny smirked at him. "Just remember who asked who where."

Brad flushed, he was beginning to hate doing that. "I'm man enough to admit that I asked you here, though it was for a different purpose than just to talk about ourselves."

"Figured you did that a lot already."

Brad snorted this time. "Now I've got you, don't I?"

"Dr. Jerkins." Jenny said thoughtfully and smirked again. "Start paying me and we've got a deal."

"Yeah right," Brad said as he walked toward the door, "you're not that good a doctor."

"Would I be that good a friend?"

Brad looked at Jenny surprised, and was even more surprised when he saw she looked just as shocked with herself. "You think I'm pathetic one minute and now you want to be my friend?"

"I don't like you; consider me the one who isn't after you for status or something." Jenny said.

Brad mulled it over in his head. There was going to be a backlash, but this was , where everyone knew everything in a day; there was already going to be backlash from this. _'I could never resist a challenge._' He thought. "We're not friends, we're…"

"Acquaintances."

Brad smiled slightly. "Yeah, calling us friends would be too weird, wouldn't it?"

"Hanging out with a popular guy like you?" Jenny rolled her eyes. "My reputation would be shot."

Brad shook his head, knowing that if he was going to hang out with an outcast, he had to roll with the punches a lot better. "Right back at ya."


End file.
